268 



NATURE 



\yan. 23, 1890 



Money wins its way, and justice is unknown in Siam. 

 Everyone wlio has not a friend at Court is preyed upon 

 by the governors and their rapacious underHngs. Such 

 being the present state of Siam, one is not surprised to 

 learn that the majority of its inhabitants, besides being 

 slaves and selling their children, are libertines, gamblers, 

 opium smokers or eaters, and given to intoxicating 

 beverages." 



Mr. Alabaster, the confidential adviser of the King of 

 Siam, told Mr. Hallett that nine-tenths of the non- 

 Chinese inhabitants of Bangkok were slaves ; that 

 'squeezing" was so universal amongst the nobility, 

 officials, and monopolists, that no man could become 

 rich in the country unless he purchased an appointment, 

 and thus became one of the rulers ; and that justice in 

 the courts was a farce — the heaviest purse, or the most 

 powerful person, invariably winning the case ; besides 

 which, if a man was believed to be in possession of 

 money, false charges were brought against him, directly 

 or indirectly, by the officials, in order to wring the money 

 out of him. Everyone that he questioned in Bangkok 

 was of opinion that the state of the people could not be 

 much worse than it was at the time of his visit. Accord- 

 ing to an inspector of police in Siamese employ, the 

 magistrates in that city have the reputation of being the 

 biggest liars in the country, and the police are said to be 

 the greatest thieves, and so unsafe are the people from 

 false charges and lawsuits, that they willingly become 

 the slaves of the powerful in order to gain their protection. 

 The whole volume is replete with interesting informa- 

 tion ; we heartily commend it to the attention of our 

 readers. 



THE LESSER ANTILLES. 



The Lesser Antilles. A Guide for Settlers in the British 

 West Indies and Tourists' Companion. By Owen T. 

 Bulkeley. (London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, 

 and Rivington, Limited, 1889.) 



SINCE Mr. Froude wrote on the West Indies, numerous 

 books and pamphlets have been produced, either to 

 show he was entirely wrong, or to supplement in some 

 important particular the information he gave respecting 

 these islands. The author of the little book before us 

 took note of Mr. Froude's lament that all hand-books to 

 the West Indies " were equally barren " of facts con- 

 nected with the higher interest which the islands possess 

 for Englishmen, and he seeks to supply the deficiency. 



Although it is evident that Mr. Bulkeley has not an 

 intimate knowledge of all the islands concerned, this is 

 no great disparagement — especially when we recall their 

 comparative isolation, and the general ignorance which 

 exists even in the West Indies themselves in regard to 

 the affairs of their neighbours. 



The facts stated are generally trustworthy, and the 

 hints given to visitors and intending settlers are likely to 

 be useful. There are a moderately good map and some 

 twenty illustrations, most of which, however, are already 

 familiar to us. Although usually grouped together, the 

 several islands in the Lesser Antilles differ much more 

 from each other than is usually supp>osed. One end of 

 the chain, at the Virgin Islands, touches 19° N. lat., 

 while the other end at Trinidad is in 10° N. lat. 



Hence, the extreme points of the Lesser Antilles are- 

 about six hundred miles apart, and there is such a 

 diversity of soil and climate that each island really re- 

 quires separate treatment. 



There is still much misconception in the mind of the 

 British public as regards the healthiness of these islands,, 

 and also as regards their suitability for settlers with a 

 small capital. If there were someone in this country 

 whose business it was to give accurate information re- 

 specting the West Indies, they would probably be greatly 

 benefited. 



The revival of interest in these islands, and the large 

 number of people who annually visit them, are facts which 

 have naturally led to the production of a guide-book. 

 Mr. Bulkeley has, however, aimed at producing some- 

 thing more than a guide-book. The greater part of the 

 volume is devoted to a minute description of the physical 

 features, and the circumstances of the several islands,, 

 and this is followed by information for intending settlers, 

 with the view of inducing those who have capital to in- 

 vest to make their homes in these islands. While we 

 cannot endorse all Mr. Bulkeley's statements on this latter 

 point, it is only right to say that none of them are posi- 

 tively misleading, and at all times they are discussed with 

 a modesty, and an evident desire to arrive at a right con- 

 clusion, that disarms criticism. 



Besides the sugar-cane and cocoa-nut palms, there are 

 industries connected with fruits, fibres, spices, annatto, 

 arrow-root, pepper, maize, medicinal plants, scent-pro- 

 ducing plants, coca, ramie, tea, tobacco, and many others 

 well suited to the soil and climate. 



It is well known' that in former days large fortunes were 

 made by sugar planters in the West Indies. Now, how- 

 ever, even the best estates do little more than give a 

 small return on the capital invested, while many cannot 

 even do this. It would be unwise, therefore, for the West 

 Indies to confine their attention exclusively, or, indeed, 

 largely, to the sugar-cane. Already a change is taking place. 

 Jamaica has pimento, coffee, tropical fruits, cinchona, 

 dye-woods, annatto, cacao ; Trinidad has cacao, cocoa- 

 nuts ; Grenada is almost exclusively cacao and spices : 

 Montserrat is noted for its lime plantations and lime-juice ;; 

 while Dominica exports concentrated lime-juice, cacao,, 

 cocoa-nuts, as well as oranges to the neighbouring 

 islands. The tendency is for the cultivation of the West 

 Indies to become more and more diversified, and it is 

 well it should be so. 



With such good markets for produce of all kinds in the- 

 United States and Europe, it is evident that West Indian 

 planters could regain much of their former prosperity if 

 only they adapted themselves to the new order of things. 

 To assist them in the development of new industries,. 

 Government botanical gardens are in course of being 

 established, under the auspices of Kew, in every island, 

 and from these new plants and information respecting 

 their cultivation are being widely distributed. In such a 

 work enterprising governors, such as the late Sir Anthony 

 Musgrave, and the present Governor of Trinidad, Sir 

 William Robinson, and others, have taken an active part. 

 It is not, however, as regards industrial subjects only that 

 interest in the West Indies has revived of late. The 

 publication of Grisebach's "Flora of the British West 

 Indian Islands" in 1864 (one of the series of colonial. 



